Tag Archives: vienna

Tumor determination in bowel cancer: Blood test replaces surgery

One of the challenges of personalised medicine is the development of treatment resistance. At the Comprehensive Cancer Center (CCC) Vienna at the MedUni Vienna and Vienna General Hospital, a study is now commencing which involves patients with metastasized bowel cancer who are undergoing a new diagnostic method, namely liquid biopsy in the form of a blood test. The aim of this new method is to spot a tumor’s development of resistance early on and therefore adjust the treatment quickly and in a targeted manner…

Unexpected bonus: blocking STAT3 could help cancer patients in two ways

The so-called Signal Transducers and Activators of Transcription, or STATs, are key components of many different signalling pathways. Not surprisingly, then, when something goes wrong with their regulation the consequences can be severe and many types of cancer are known to be associated with increased activities of one or more STAT protein. STAT3 is a frequent culprit and is often found to be activated in tumour cells. Considerable efforts are going into developing inhibitors of STAT3 for use in cancer therapy but it is unclear whether these will turn out to be suitable for use in patients. …

New approach in the treatment of breast cancer

"Our results reveal that the Ret enzyme (Ret kinase) may be an attractive and novel therapeutic target in selected groups of breast cancer patients," says Lukas Kenner from the Clinical Institute of Pathology at the MedUni Vienna and Head of the Vienna team, summarising the results of the study that have now been published in the magazine "EMBO Molecular Medicine." Initial trials with specific Ret inhibitors have shown that the spread of cancer and the number of metastases in the lungs can be reduced if the activity of the Ret enzymes in tumour cells is blocked. The tests so far have used two blocking substances that are already known. Blockade of the Ret enzyme reduces tumour growth The scientists investigated tumour tissue from more than 80 breast cancer patients, using antibodies to quantify the Ret protein in the samples. …